I don't own any of the solar panels yet, but intend to add them to a future boat. So pardon my ignorance in the following questions. . These are not rhetorical questions, do I hope someone with experience will be kind enough to answer them here.

The cost of the solar panels in general has fallen over time. But what else about the panels will fall or deteriorate over a few years?

I wonder what the materials lifetime projections are for the flexible (plastic foundation or casing or substrate) panels are going to be versus heavier panels that have glass fronts.

And are the typical panels sold for and used on boats today coming with real glass glazing, or with some kind of plastic (acrylic) glazing?

Do the "cheap" panels have a different kind of glazing material?

If the panels come with real glass, are the cheapest panels using tempered glass?

Will the plastic materials (especially clear glazing) suffer from the constant sun exposure and heat? Or simple "crazing?" Will they get cloudy or hazy like many plastic auto headlamp lenses do after a few years?

Do the panels sold for boating have special "marine" wiring? Or, would a cheap panel intended for land based use have inferior wiring that will corrode or fail quickly in saltmarine air?

Our windy nation panels have tempered glass front in a ridgid aluminum frame I have never seen any difference between the connections for marine wiring and land based wiring for the panels

The flexible Renogy panels I received definitely have some quality issues. If you can fit the Kyocera and already have a place to mount them, I think the cost and quality advantages make them the clear choice.

However the smallest kyocera panels are huge and you need to build a very expensive arch to hold the weight if you do not already have a good mounting location.

The Renogy 100w flexible panels work way better on a boat my size. Pricing panels by the watt is only part of the story. In most solar setups I would expect the panels to be 1/3 of the total cost of the system.

I like what you did with the junction boxes but I wouldn't bad mouth the quality of the part considering the cost. Are you suggesting that because they didn't include a couple of nylon cable clamps that you had to "reinforce" them.

I like what you did with the junction boxes but I wouldn't bad mouth the quality of the part considering the cost. Are you suggesting that because they didn't include a couple of nylon cable clamps that you had to "reinforce" them.

Where the wires leave the panel Renogy has a four piece box. A square base, two end caps, and a lid. On each end of the box one wire come out between the lid and end cap. The four pieces of this box have no mechanical connections. They set them on the panel and glue them together. You can see the white glue all over in the pictures.

The panel I had was not glued properly. When I received the panel, the box had fallen apart in shipping. Luckily all the pieces were there. I rebuilt the box using marine goop.

This box should be designed well enough to hold the wires securely. Even with my repair the wires seemed like they would be damaged without additional reinforcing. That is why I added the cable clamps. I say I had to reinforce them because the wires would be damaged by using them as they came from the factory. This is a design flaw in the panel. I have not seen a similar flaw in other panels. The box falling apart in shipping is more of a manufacturing flaw than a design flaw.

As I said in the blog post, I would buy these panels again given the current choices, but people should be realistic about what they are getting.

I purchased 4 x 100 watt panels from Solbian and after 12 months had major issues with them, Replaced under warranty but after another 12 mths they are starting to glaze over. Tried polishing the surface ,looked good for a month but back to how they where.Now these panels are not cheap at $900.00 each so you would think they should last at least 5-10 years.

Now it seems the original importer for Australia has pulled the pin so where does that leave the Australian guys who purchased for there warranty problems

Ok, if you only pay say $150.00 per panel I would cop that but $900.00 each and no back up, I go the Chinese panel

Ouch! We know the distributor in OZ has moved on, and we cover North America, however Solbian will likely help you out again. Drop us a note if you'd like us to connect you.

What's weird is that the glazing/fogging was theoretically tied to a supplier issue (bad batch of coversheet material), the replacements shouldn't have had the problem again.

Regarding polish, here we have used RejeX on new panels and suggest periodic reapplication. They seem to like it, makes them very slippery and bird poo-resistant.

__________________
Twice around was enough for me...
Now I just help others prep for ocean trips...www.bruceschwab.com

It is always convenient to blame problems on a supplier...
I've been looking into producing solar panels.
I don't really see ANY plastic sheet that can last in a salt water marine environment and remain crystal clear for 10 years.

It seems to me one just has to assume the weight savings of using thin plastic is a cost of replacing them after a relative short time.
I've been thinking the better approach is to make them 'rebuildable' or the top sheet can be replaced. Nobody does this, it looks very difficult and maybe impossible..

Quote:

Originally Posted by OceanPlanet

Ouch! We know the distributor in OZ has moved on, and we cover North America, however Solbian will likely help you out again. Drop us a note if you'd like us to connect you.

What's weird is that the glazing/fogging was theoretically tied to a supplier issue (bad batch of coversheet material), the replacements shouldn't have had the problem again.

Regarding polish, here we have used RejeX on new panels and suggest periodic reapplication. They seem to like it, makes them very slippery and bird poo-resistant.

I don't really see ANY plastic sheet that can last in a salt water marine environment and remain crystal clear for 10 years.

I've used polishing compounds in the past to restore fogged plastic by resurfacing. I've probably saved at least a dozen CDs over the years using ultra brite toothpaste and a damp cloth.

Would buffing the plastic off and using one of the silicon fillers like Armor All or similar extend this life?

To us, the advantages of getting away from the heavy, fragile glass panels would be worth a polish job every few years if that would do it. At 4 lbs. each, the flex panels would not be overwhelmingly difficult to remove, buff and replace.

As a potential manufacturer you could offer buffing kits...something like 600 or 2000 grit wet paper and some compound and cloth? Still easier than brightwork.

The solution is to use very thin glass. Normal solar cells need thick glass so it doesn't flex and break the cells, but with flexible cells, you can use thin glass.
Very expensive compared to plastic, but for marine environment I think it is needed.

If you thought scraping a hull for bottom paint was a pain, just imagine having to polish 1000 square feet of solar panels.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canibul

I've used polishing compounds in the past to restore fogged plastic by resurfacing. I've probably saved at least a dozen CDs over the years using ultra brite toothpaste and a damp cloth.

Would buffing the plastic off and using one of the silicon fillers like Armor All or similar extend this life?

To us, the advantages of getting away from the heavy, fragile glass panels would be worth a polish job every few years if that would do it. At 4 lbs. each, the flex panels would not be overwhelmingly difficult to remove, buff and replace.

As a potential manufacturer you could offer buffing kits...something like 600 or 2000 grit wet paper and some compound and cloth? Still easier than brightwork.

I've used polishing compounds in the past to restore fogged plastic by resurfacing. I've probably saved at least a dozen CDs over the years using ultra brite toothpaste and a damp cloth.

Would buffing the plastic off and using one of the silicon fillers like Armor All or similar extend this life?

To us, the advantages of getting away from the heavy, fragile glass panels would be worth a polish job every few years if that would do it. At 4 lbs. each, the flex panels would not be overwhelmingly difficult to remove, buff and replace.

As a potential manufacturer you could offer buffing kits...something like 600 or 2000 grit wet paper and some compound and cloth? Still easier than brightwork.